- Tesla‘s FSD has received partial approval in China, with full approval expected around February or March next year, Musk said.
- Tesla began rolling out its advanced driver assistance system, similar to FSD, in China this February.
China is expected to fully approve Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) advanced driver assistance features, similar to the Full Self-Driving (FSD) sold in the US market, according to the company’s CEO Elon Musk.
«We have partial approval in China and, hopefully, we’ll have full approval in China around February or March or so,» Musk said during Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, according to a Bloomberg report.
«That’s what they’ve told us,» the Tesla CEO added.
Tesla’s advanced features currently hold partial approval in China, enabling the US EV maker to conduct testing.
However, wider tests have been paused as Tesla has yet to receive full approval from Chinese regulators, the Bloomberg report noted.
On February 25 this year, Tesla began rolling out advanced smart driving features in China similar to FSD, though the term «FSD» was avoided in the initial introduction. This was seen as the formal introduction of FSD to China.
The feature’s name was later changed from «Full Self-Driving Capability» to «FSD Intelligent Assisted Driving,» and then «Intelligent Assisted Driving».
On March 17, Tesla announced it would allow eligible vehicles to experience FSD features free of charge until April 16.
However, the American EV maker subsequently suspended this free trial, stating on Weibo that it needed to complete approval for the smart driving assistance software.
Over the past few years, Tesla has allowed Chinese customers to purchase the FSD software package for RMB 64,000 ($8,990). Yet since FSD is essentially unusable in China, even Tesla sales staff do not recommend customers purchase the feature.
By contrast, most domestic automakers — including Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) and BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) — provide their ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) features free of charge to owners.
Tesla’s appeal in China is waning, necessitating new selling points to boost vehicle attractiveness.
Tesla China’s October wholesale sales, including exports, totaled 61,497 vehicles — the lowest since May, according to data compiled by CnEVPost. Its China delivery and Shanghai factory export figures are expected later this month.
In September, Tesla’s retail sales in China reached 71,525 units — the second-highest this year — but fell 0.93 percent year-on-year, marking its seventh monthly decline in China this year.
($1 = RMB 7.1229)
